MR. McCLELLAN: All right, let me go over the schedule first, and
then I'll be happy to take your questions. En route, the President had
his intelligence briefing. He als0 -- the President also called
President Hu of China. This was a follow up to Dr. Rice's recent trip
there. The President reaffirmed our One China policy, based on the
three communiqus and the Taiwan Relations Act. The President made
clear that our cross strait policy remains the same. The two leaders
also reaffirmed their commitment to work together on the issue of North
Korea and their nuclear weapons program. And they talked about the
importance of relations -- of our relationship with China -- the
President talked about the importance of our relationship with China,
as well.

Upon arrival in Springfield, the Freedom Corps greeter is Charlie
Graas, who has volunteered with the Stone County Food Pantry -- who
currently volunteers with the Stone County Food Pantry. And then the
President will make remarks in Springfield. And I'll be glad to talk
to you more about that if you have questions about it. He will be
delivering a new stump speech today, as you all have heard.

And then from there, we go to Grand Rapids, and the Freedom Corps
greeter there is Cal Steele, who has been a mentor for the Journey
Youth Mentoring Program since 2002. And then the President will make
remarks in Grand Rapids. Also, he'll be taping his radio address
there, and the topic of that will be on the economy.

And then we depart Grand Rapids for Cleveland, and the Freedom
Corps greeter there is Julia Singer, who for the past three years has
volunteered with Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Writing Center in Chagrin
Falls, Ohio, where she helps handicapped children ages three to 18 who
are taking part in the therapy-based programs.

And then the President will make remarks to the athletes of the
International Children's Game and Cultural Festival in Cleveland,
Ohio. And following that, he will make remarks at a Victory 2004
dinner. And then we overnight in Cleveland before continuing on the
trip tomorrow.

And that's what I've got for his schedule today.

Q Did he call China on the plane, or before that?

MR. McCLELLAN: On the plane. That was all on the plane.

Q What's he going to say?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you've seen some of it in the
coverage. Today kicks off the President's "Heart and Soul of America" tour. The President will deliver a new stump speech that focuses on
his optimistic vision for moving America forward. The President will
begin outlining in more detail his agenda for helping families and
workers succeed in a changing economy. He will talk about the
importance of building an ownership society. The President will begin
outlining his plan for making America safer in a changing world, and he
will begin laying out more of his agenda to strengthen America's
families and communities.

This will be a month-long focus on the challenges we face as a
nation and the President's vision for meeting those challenges. I
expect the President will talk about the significant progress that we
are making and how we are turning the corner and we are not going to
turn back, and while there has been significant progress over the last
three years, there is more to do. And the President will be reaching
out to voters across America during this time period with his
optimistic vision and talking about how the best days lie ahead.
You've heard him talk about that, and he will continue to talk about
that as part of his optimistic vision. And I expect the President will
talk about how results do matter. He is outlining an optimistic vision
for America that is based on a record of results.

And so that's what he will be talking about today and over the
course of the next few weeks leading up to the convention.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, he didn't see the speech. He read some
of the coverage of it this morning. And I think in terms of our views
of the speech, part of that was addressed last night by Chairman
Racicot. I think it was a nicely crafted speech that appeared to be
well received from -- by most people in the audience.

But there was really nothing new, in terms of a vision. And there
are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered. There was a
20-year gap -- it's called his public record. His election-year
rhetoric runs counter to his 20-year public record. And I think that
is the ultimate makeover. While he was frank about his own
complexities, he failed to provide any straight talk about his
inconsistent and contradictory statements on Iraq. He is a walking
contradiction. He offered to elevate the debate, while at the same
time launching negative attacks against the President. So I think that
the senator from Massachusetts is a walking contradiction.

Q Is this now a race, though, to who can present the most
optimistic agenda? That seems to be what the President is doing this
month. Kerry certainly --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, and that's why I talked about one of the
things that the President will talk about today is that results do
matter. And then -- the President has a record of results. The
Senator from Massachusetts also has a record. And --

Q What is it a record of?

MR. McCLELLAN: And I think that you're seeing that he is running
as fast and as far as he can from that record. But the American people
will make judgments based on the candidate's records and their vision
going forward. But last night in the speech, I saw nothing new in
terms of a vision being offered by the Senator from Massachusetts.

Q But does the President have to present himself as not quite
the, you know, kind of, trigger happy, tough, shoot him from the hip
cowboy, and sort of fill out that image a little more?

MR. McCLELLAN: What he's going to do is continue to focus on -- we
are in a period where the stakes are high, the challenges are big
challenges that we face. And the President has been leading in a
strong and decisive way to meet those challenges. And he'll be talking
about how we've made significant progress to meet these challenges that
we face when it comes to the war on terrorism and the economy and other
priorities. And he will talk about how there is more to do. But we
are turning the corner and there is no turning back. And he will talk
about that in his remarks today and he will continue talking about that
leading up to the convention.

Q Scott, can you talk about the budget deficit? Are those
numbers going to come out today? And what are they going to say?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't want to preempt our Budget Director.
I believe it's at noon, or sometime around there, that OMB will be
having a press availability with Director Bolten and he will talk more
about that. But I think that you will see that we are continuing to
make progress to meet the President's commitment to cutting the deficit
in half over the next five years. We are -- through the priorities
that the President has outlined, we are -- we are meeting our nation's
priorities and by holding -- or showing spending restraint elsewhere in
the budget, we are on track to meet the President's commitment to cut
the deficit in half. The economy has shown continued strength because
of the actions that this President has taken. And I think the OMB
Director will talk about how the revenues that are coming in are higher
than expected. But I'll leave it to him to talk more about that later
today.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he -- he went to sleep last night. That was
a late speech, obviously, but he did read some of the coverage of it
this morning, like I said.

Q He had checked in -- he had checked in on the TV coverage
earlier in the week off and on.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, and whether or not he watched the actual
speech at the time, he's obviously seen some of the coverage or read
some of the coverage of the convention itself.

Q Did Karl stay up to watch it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I believe he did. And you -- and by the way,
there are campaign officials onboard the plane. You've got Nicole, and
then you've also got Matthew Dowd, and they'll be on the ground. And
so I'm sure they'll be available to talk to you if you all need more.

MR. McCLELLAN: Week ahead. Week ahead, on Monday, the President
will meet with his Cabinet at the White House.

On Tuesday, the President will sign the United States-Australia
Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act in the Rose Garden at the White
House. And then we will go to Dallas where the President will attend a
Victory 2004 reception, and the President will make remarks to the
122nd Annual Knights of Columbus Convention in Dallas. We will
overnight in Crawford. For those of you who missed this last week,
there's an opportunity to go back there.

And Wednesday, the President will participate in an "Ask President
Bush" event in Davenport, Iowa. And then he will make remarks on
conservation -- on Conservation Reserve in Mankato, Minnesota. Then
the President will make remarks at a Mankato, Minnesota rally following
that. We'll be back at the White House that night.

On Thursday, the President will sign the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act at the White House. And then the President will go
to Columbus, Ohio to participate in an "Ask President Bush." And then
he will make remarks at Saginaw, Michigan rally.

And on Friday, the President will make remarks to the Unity:
Journalists of Color Convention.

Q Where will he sleep that day?

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, we're back in D.C. on Thursday. And then on
Friday morning, the President will make remarks to the Unity:
Journalists of Color Convention at the Washington Convention Center.
And then he will make remarks at a Stratham, New Hampshire picnic. And
then we will be overnighting in Kennebunkport, Maine and returning to
the White House early afternoon, I expect, on Sunday, August 8th. And
as I said, if there are any other updates to the schedule we will keep
you all posted.

Q Saturday and Sunday is the family event at Kennebunkport?
Closed?

Q He's going to a wedding.

MR. McCLELLAN: Nothing else to announce on that at this time. But
that's -- we'll be in Kennebunkport.